As football season approaches, Time Warner and other cable carriers appear locked in a stalemate with the powerful National Football League over its four-year-old TV network.

Time Warner Cable Inc. — San Antonio's dominant carrier — and Cablevision Systems Corp. have refused to carry the NFL Network, saying the league has made unreasonable demands for its programming.

Meanwhile, Charter Communications Inc. stopped carrying the network because of a contract dispute, and Comcast Corp. is in a court battle over whether it can move the network to a sports tier for which customers would pay extra.

This year, NFL Network will air eight regular-season games. Three of those — a Nov. 29 Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers game, a Dec. 13 Houston Texans-Denver Broncos match-up, and a Dec. 22 Cowboys-Carolina Panthers game — could draw heavy viewership in South Texas.

At the heart of the debate is how much pro football is enough for America's already robustly served TV fans. The NFL, which has long been able to command top dollar by packaging its games myriad ways, says its large fan base still hungers for more.

But after years of budgetary woes caused by the skyrocketing cost of sports programming, cable executives say they — and viewers — have had enough. Complaints about the cost of cable, driven in large part by pricey sports programming, have been escalating, and carriers say the NFL Network belongs on a sports tier so the rest of their subscribers aren't forced to shoulder its expense.

"Not all our customers are passionate sports fans," says Steve Burke, Comcast's chief operating officer. "And many of them are not interested in paying more" for football programming.
The NFL publicly tussled with Time Warner and other cable companies over these issues last season, and again it's asking fans to log onto its Web site (www.iwantnflnetwork.com) and register their disapproval of cable carriers' "unsportsmanlike conduct." It's hoping football enthusiasts will apply pressure to the carriers by switching to competitors and complaining to public officials.

Yeah, this TWC vs. the NFL has gotten ridiculous. There's no way you can convince me that no common ground can be made after 16 months. TWC customers are suffering but then again, the NFL is operating like a friekin oil company. Record profits baby....year after year!!! They need to figure this thing out because I want to be able to watch my Texans here in SA. It's bad enough that they don't broadcast every game here.